What follows is the second part in a series of interviews with the contributing members of Nevermet Press. Think of them as a little ‘getting to know you’ session for those of you out there who are curious about the people behind the Nevermet Press products. Feel free to ask any additional questions in the comments section of this post.
by Matthew Lichtenwalner
Cassey Toi is an editor and game critique that lives in South Africa with her husband Jerall. They have both been blogging about games for a long time over at TenLetter. Nevermet Press Illustrator Matt Lichtenwalner (aka @mrlich) virtualy sat down with Cassey to find out about what she gets out of NMP, and where her interests lie.
NMP: How long have you been working with Nevermet Press?
CT: Since July 2009, that makes it 14 months
NMP: What do you work on at NMP?
CT: I’m an editor and occasionally I write a post.
NMP: How have you been enjoying writing for NMP? Do you think your skills as an editor have given you any special insight (beyond the obvious) on how or what to write?
CT: Honestly, I find it really hard to write for NMP. Looking at what others have written and knowing that you have a piece that must follow that awesome is intimidating. I know that it’s silly, but it happens. If anything I’d say knowing what I know has made writing harder, there’s more to consider.
NMP: If you could make one aspect of NMP a roaring success, what would it be?
CT: Just one aspect, really? Well the blog, and interaction with people who are interested in what we do. When we get the blog going well again, there will be more interaction. More interaction equals more views, more interest and at the end more people buying our products.
NMP: What would be required for you to consider it a roaring success?
CT: More comments, hits are important, but comments let you know that people are ‘hearing’ what you’re saying.
NMP: What do you think would help us get people interacting more on the blog? Is there something specific that gets you to be chatty on a blog?
CT: Well I get chatty on blogs, because I’m chatty 
I have noticed though that the more risqué / taboo / insulting a post is towards others the more comments it gets. However, things with just great news and awesome ideas get comments too.
NMP: Why role playing? What got you started?
CT: I got introduced to role playing by Jerall, before I meet him I didn’t even know it existed. Although I like to think I had latent geek ability before that, well not so latent I loved fantasy books and I have a little Trekkie-ness in me :p I would hang out with the guys, and then just played one afternoon. The same thing happened with Magic the Gathering.
NMP: Is there anything creative that you’ve always wanted to do, but just haven’t?
CT: Well I’m envious of those who can create something out of almost nothing, like people who can create dress/quilts/jerseys and people who sculpt/draw/paint, wow. It must be so amazing to see your creative energy in 3d. I don’t do it because I don’t have the skill or natural talent to do it, and I always want to do things well.
NMP: Outside of gaming, how do you like your fiction? What format? Why?
CT: I’ll give any well written form of fiction a whirl. My preferred genres are: fantasy, drama and comedy. That said I do watch a fair amount of TV, movies and Anime too, but the genres remain the same, with the addition of musicals…I love them.
NMP: Have any favorites?
CT: I love The Sound of Music, Chicago and My Fair Lady; then of course there are the Disney ones – Little Mermaid and Mulan top the list there. What these movies have in common is that the heroines are strong women who create their own paths.
NMP: What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
CT: The last book I read was The Magicians Apprentice by Trudi Canavan. It’s the prequel to her Black Magician trilogy; I waited till now to read it because I was waiting for a soft cover print of the novel to fit in with the trilogy – I like my collections to fit together. I would recommend it; especially to anyone who has read the first trilogy, or who wants to read the new one she has just released…it fills in some story gaps.
NMP: Why are you working with Nevermet Press? What do you get out of it?
CT: Well my involvement started when I resigned from my job, so it kept me busy. Now I get a lot out of it, I’ve ‘met’ new people and learned a lot about RPG’s.
NMP: What do you think NMP’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are, and how do you think you contribute to both, or either one, of those?
CT: Our greatest strengths lies in our interaction, the way we bounce ideas off each other. Our weakness is not enough time, we’ve got all these great ideas, but not enough time to get them working. I add to the strength by being part of the idea bounce off wall, I read all the e-mails, not just those related to topics I’m interested in and I try to add something to them, even if I just say “cool idea”.
NMP: Is there something you think that we can do differently to divvy up the work so that more of the great ideas get put into creative products?
CT: The only way we could get more of the great ideas out into the work would be if someone won the lotto and pumped the money into NMP and employed everyone full-time. There are so many great ideas and projects on the back burner, but everyone’s real life demands means that we need to accept that it’ll take a while for it all to be out there for others to enjoy.
